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By Gardiner HarrisThe New York Times • Thursday August 15, 2013 6:25 AM

NEW DELHI — Indian naval divers opened the main hatchway yesterday afternoon of a stricken
Russian-made Indian submarine that caught fire, blew up and sank at dock earlier in the day.

But the divers’ visibility within the sunken vessel was almost zero, and rescue and recovery
operations for the 18 missing crew members were expected to take time. Three sailors who were on
the outside of the ship when it exploded scrambled to safety.

Adm. D. K. Joshi, India’s naval chief, said at a news conference that the chances were slim that
any of the missing sailors remained alive.

“There is a possibility, however remote it might be, of an air pocket,” he said.

The submarine was docked at the Lions Gate naval shipyard, close to South Mumbai’s busy
financial district and within 2 miles of the Gateway of India, the monument that is the city’s top
tourist attraction. The water where the accident occurred is so shallow that a portion of the
stricken vessel protruded above the surface.

Joshi said there had been no communication with the missing crew members since a small explosion
about midnight near the bow of the submarine ignited two huge blasts from onboard munitions,
possibly torpedoes or cruise missiles.The heat from the explosions and the resulting two-hour fire
was so intense that it fused the submarine’s hatchways.

The cause of the explosion on the 16-year-old submarine could not be immediately determined.
After a February 2010 explosion in the battery compartment left one dead and two others injured,
the vessel was sent to Zvezdochka shipyard in Russia for an $80 million retrofit.